Today’s featured book is one of the rare YA titles I’ve read and reviewed, For Love and Honor by Jody Hedlund! I simply adore this author and her Noble Knights series!
about the book
For Love and Honor by Jody Hedlund
Genre: Young Adult Historical
Release Date: March 7, 2017Lady Sabine is harboring a skin blemish, one, that if revealed, could cause her to be branded as a witch, put her life in danger, and damage her chances of making a good marriage. After all, what nobleman would want to marry a woman so flawed?
Sir Bennet is returning home to protect his family from an imminent attack by neighboring lords who seek repayment of debts. Without fortune or means to pay those debts, Sir Bennet realizes his only option is to make a marriage match with a wealthy noblewoman. As a man of honor, he loathes the idea of courting a woman for her money, but with time running out for his family’s safety, what other choice does he have?
As Lady Sabine and Sir Bennet are thrust together under dangerous circumstances, will they both be able to learn to trust each other enough to share their deepest secrets? Or will those secrets ultimately lead to their demise?
my thoughts
Y’all know I don’t read very many YA titles but I WANTED to pick up this series because 1) JODY HEDLUND (I’ll try to be nice and not say “duh!” here) … 2) knights and damsels … and 3) my kids are getting closer to this age group by the day, mama needs to be prepared! Despite my general tendency to bypass YA, I honestly enjoyed each book in this series!
Thanks to her loving grandmother, Lady Sabine has lived a rather sheltered life yet she has also had the extraordinary pleasure of experiencing the world through rare books and artifacts. Sabine’s grandmother is willing to do just about anything to ensure her granddaughter’s future happiness despite the challenges they are up against. Lady Sabine is innocent, compassionate, and intelligent yet past experiences have left her wary and insecure.
Sir Bennett is trying to restore his family’s good name and preserve their home and lands. His honor dictates that he pay the debts owed to neighbors on his own yet the reality of an imminent attack by a disgruntled neighbor calls for a swift and complete solution. A marriage of convenience for money makes Bennett’s honor all twitchy and aggravated but he’s determined to do what he must to perform his duty with the utmost integrity and care.
So, as in many “marriage of convenience” stories, everyone is keeping secrets from everyone else and no one knows who to trust. For Love and Honor has a delightful mix of innocent first love and vivid medieval adventure.
I requested the opportunity to read this book through the publisher. The opinions expressed are my own.
about the author
Jody Hedlund is a best-selling and award-winning author who loves fairy-tales and happily-ever-afters. She makes her home in Midland, MI with her husband and five teen-aged children. When she’s not writing another of her page-turning stories, you can usually find her sipping coffee, eating chocolate, and reading.
website | facebook | twitter | instagram
guest post from Jody Hedlund
The Importance of Recognizing an Author’s World View
Over the past several years, I’ve read quite a number of Young Adult (YA) books. Part of the reason is because I have four teens and one tween. So I want to keep up with the literary smorgasbord offered to teens, especially because so many books end up as blockbuster movies. Both the books and the movies open the door for lots of discussion. We talk about objectionable behaviors, difficult life-issues, character likability, and so much more.
One question I almost always ask is: So what’s this author’s worldview?
We all have a worldview– a set of principles we live by or the philosophy of life that guides us. Usually, we see everything through the lens of our worldview which dictates how we live, the decisions we make, the way we treat others, etc.
Authors have worldviews too. And those views color and shape everything we write into our books, whether we intend to or not.
For example, after reading the best seller A Fault in Our Stars, I talked to my daughters about cancer and all of the sadness and fear that come with it. But beyond that, we talked about the author’s worldview. What did he believe about death, the afterlife, about God (or the lack thereof), and about the meaning of human existence? The author’s philosophies DO come across. Perhaps subtly. But they are there nonetheless.
Most of the time, however, we don’t really take the time to think about the views that form the foundations of the books we read. In fact, I would go as far to say that most of the time our kids read for entertainment with little thought about the author’s worldview and how it may or may not line up with what they believe.
As a result of simply drinking in whatever we’re told, we become susceptible to fads, whims, and sometimes even deceitful philosophies masquerading as good.
Obviously, I permit my children to read a wide variety of books. I don’t shelter them or require them to only read classics. But hand-in-hand with giving them the opportunity to read popular books, I take my responsibility seriously to have frank discussions about what they’re reading (and watching).
The fact is, sadly, that all too many teen books nowadays require a lot of debriefing. And I have to admit that I would love to be able to have more choices for wholesome (yet entertaining!) books that I can put into my kids’ hands.
It’s my prayer that FOR LOVE & HONOR can be that kind of book. Please spread the word so that we can pave the way for more books just like it!
Noble Knights series
goodreads | amazon
book 1 review | book 2 review | book 3 review
giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Jody Hedlund is sponsoring a giveaway prize of all three novels in the Noble Knights series!
Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!
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How about YOU? Do you think about an author’s worldview as you’re reading books?
Be sure to add For Love and Honor by Jody Hedlund to your tbr!
Faithfully Bookish 
I try to pay attention to the author’s world view, especially when reading secular books. Indeed, I had to have a few discussions after reading some YA books with my teens and tweens. Wish I had more hours in the day so I could read all my books AND theirs, too.
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Yes, I’ve had some eye opening experiences with secular YA!
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Now that I’m older, I consider an author’s worldview as I read a book. However, when I was younger, I did not. And, yes, sometimes my view of the world changed without me even realizing it.
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We’re older and wiser, right?!
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I think we all do whether consciously or not. It may be as subtle as to the genre of the book before we even start reading it.
Thanks for the review of some books I want definitely want to read. 🙂
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You’re welcome, Kay!!! These books definitely appeal to a wide range of ages. Happy reading!
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Since I read Christian fiction almost exclusively, the author’s world view isn’t a big concern. However, if my children were still young, it would be a major issue.
Like you, I usually don’t read YA, but this book and this series sounds like something I would like to read.
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My little bookworm keeps me hopping, I’m always looking for something she will enjoy! I think we’ll have fun reading this series together in a couple of years (she’s still in the “romance, ew” stage and I’m okay with that!!!) and until then, I had a nice time reading them on my own 😉
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Love her books.
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ME TOO!!! (maybe I mentioned that in the post though, lol) 😀
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I always looked at the Authors world view on how she she’s the Lord and how she adds into her stories of salvation, hope, and Love. Even amongst turmoil and conflict. Reading this broadens my perspective now when I read. Thank you!
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Wasn’t that a lovely guest post from Jody Hedlund?! It’s so wonderful of her to share her heart on worldview!
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My daughter is getting older as well, and she is an advanced reader. However, she doesn’t always know word pronunciations, and she can’t read some of the middle grade fiction as it isn’t age-appropriate. I’m so glad that authors like you, Jody, are still producing quality literature!
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I agree, Karen and Jody Hedlund is a wonderful storyteller! My little bookworm is a re-reader so that helps in a sense but I am also more picky about what she reads since she is going to spend so much time in the stories she does have!
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I always think about an author’s worldview when I read secular books, wondering what their background is like. When reading Christian fiction I appreciate that values are the same or pretty close as mine, but I do sometimes wonder what denomination they were raised in or converted to.
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I do that too! Especially if I come across a tradition I’ve never heard of before, I like to dig deeper and try to figure out the who and why.
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New author for me and I really liked what she had to say in her interview here. I’m convinced I need to read her books as I do enjoy wholesome writing.
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Oh yes, you really do! She is a historical fiction master storyteller!!!
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I would like to read these, to add some YA books to our website.
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This series by Jody Hedlund and Melanie Dickerson’s YA titles are by far my favorites in the genre! Happy hunting as you continue to build your library! My friends at ReadingIsMySuperPower.org and BookwormMama.org enjoy YA a bit more than I do and they can recommend more titles 🙂
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I prefer to read books by authors with a Christian world view. However, I do read some who do not obviously have this world view but aren’t too far off. I enjoy Jody’s books.
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Oh me too!!! Aren’t Jody Hedlund books fabulous?!! 😀
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I don’t think about their world view while I’m reading the book. I do think about it when I read their fb posts or even the “about the author” page inside their book.
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Good places to look!
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Hi Beth Erin,
Thank you SO very much for hosting me on this stop of the blog tour! I appreciate your review and that you took a chance on my YA series even though it’s not your favorite genre! Thanks for all your kind words and support! Many blessings!
~Jody
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It was my pleasure, Jody! Thank you for bringing history to life in your entertaining and God-honoring stories!
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I think about their view of spiritual things when I read what they have written about salvation or God’s love. I don’t know if that counts as their “world view” or not.
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This is a new author to me and I really like the description of the books in the series. Would love to read.
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Would love all these books! Jody is a fantastic writer 🙂
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I only read Christian books. I’m not actively thinking about the author’s world view while reading. I LOVE Jody’s stories. I can’t resist knights and damsels. 😉
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I prefer to read books by authors with a Christian world view, so I pretty much only read Christian books. With my kids I especially consider the content and world view as they are so impressionable. I want to make sure they are not filling their minds with garbage, but with books that are both entertaining and have good moral/appropriate content.
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Amen to that!
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